Paterson Claims Hofstra Banned Him Over Lengthy Island On line casino Rift
Former Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) says Hofstra College, the college at which he earned his legislation diploma, barred him from campus occasions due to his position as a lobbyist for Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS).
Las Vegas Sands Vice President David Paterson. The previous New York governor stated he was barred from Hofstra College due to his assist of a Lengthy Island on line casino. (Picture: Spectrum Information)
Sands is the gaming firm searching for to construct a on line casino lodge on the website of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, which is close to Hofstra. The college vehemently opposes that effort and has used New York courts to thwart the plan.
Paterson informed Carl Campanile of the New York Put up that he was invited to take part in a congressional panel at Hofstra. However the faculty blocked his attendance due to his employment with Sands. The previous governor added that members of some principally Black teams that assist the on line casino plan have been discriminated in opposition to and mistreated by the faculty.
Paterson, who’s New York’s first, and thus far, solely Black governor, informed the Put up that he had no intention of discussing the Lengthy Island on line casino proposal on the panel.
His allegations emerged simply days after New York State Supreme Court docket Justice Sarika Kapoor dominated for the second time since final November that the Coliseum lease switch settlement between Nassau County and Sands was invalid as a result of it violated New York’s open assembly legal guidelines and the State Environmental High quality Evaluation Act (SEQRA) course of.
Barring Paterson Dangerous Look
Hofstra says inclusions and belonging “are central” to its mission and that allegations of discrimination aren’t correct.
Governor Paterson is an esteemed alumnus of Hofstra College, and he continues to be welcome on our campus as a customer or panelist. Hofstra has already accredited the congressional discussion board occasion, at which Governor Paterson is to be a panelist. Hofstra doesn’t cosponsor occasions with on line casino, alcohol or tobacco corporations or the like,” in accordance with an announcement issued by the college to the Put up.
Assuming Paterson’s allegations are correct, it’s a nasty search for Hofstra on a number of fronts. Not solely is February Black Historical past Month, however banning the previous governor from a campus emerged barely greater than a month after troubling rumors surfaced. These indicated that the college might have been involved with representatives of Exhausting Rock Worldwide, the Tribal gaming large that desires to construct an built-in resort in Queens.
On a coincidental and ironic notice, Hofstra’s well-known alumni, along with Paterson, embody “Godfather” director Francis Ford Coppola, star James Caan (Sonny Corleone), and real-life mobster Michael Franzese, a former capo within the Colombo crime household.
Dangerous Search for Hofstra Half II
Probably compounding the general public relations woes for Hofstra is one different element. NAACP Lengthy Island head Tracey Edwards, who additionally works for Sands, claimed that nonprofit and minority teams which have acquired contributions from Sands have been barred from Hofstra’s campus.
It’s a clear and open act of discrimination in opposition to one in all your most distinguished alumni and the regional chief of the NAACP New York State Convention, a corporation that fights for the equality and inclusion of all individuals,” wrote Edwards and Paterson in a letter to Hofstra board of trustees Chairman Daniel Schaeffer.
The 2 added that Hofstra has resorted to “faculty yard bully” techniques whereas calling the college’s alleged discrimination “heartbreaking.”
